This blog began through a NIFA grant for Missouri Beginning Farmers. It continues today as a way for beginning farmers to learn about new ideas and to hear about upcoming events of interest. It is maintained by Debi Kelly (kellyd@missouri.edu).

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As an Extension Associate with the University of Missouri, I work with beginning farmers, small farms, alternative agriculture and organic farming. I am also the Co-coordinator for the Missouri Sustainable Agriculture and Research (SARE) Education Professional Development Program (PDP).

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Monday, May 4, 2015

Better Results Now

Here is some wisdom from Chris Blanchard, a well respected farmer from Northeast Iowa. Chris has spoken many times at the Great Plains Growers Conference and on several webinars through the Missouri Beginning Farmers Program.

Systematically
better results don’t usually result from the acquisition of a new tool, or
doing a “better” job of adjusting your cultivators, repairing the leaks in your
drip tape, or washing the carrots. Instead, better results come from better
organization and coordination of the resources you have available and the
activities you do with them.

On
my own farm, and in my work with farmers around North America, the key to
systematically better results has been to spend time managing – not weeding,
not planting, not telling employees what to do, but engaging in the relatively
simple act of observing, capturing information about what needs to be done, and
making a plan to do it.

In my experience, the weekly field walk is the key
black-belt move that makes the difference between managing and reacting. Every
week, every field, high-tunnel, and greenhouse should get a visit for the sole
purpose of observing and recording the work that needs to be done there: what
weeding tool should be applied? Does the cover crop need to be mowed? Are the
crops going to be ready to harvest this week or next? Are the transplants being
over- or under-watered. By observing
with intention, you increase the opportunities to catch problems before they
get out of control, monitor the results of the choices you made previously, and
plan the appropriate actions in response.

By engaging in this sort of ongoing development of a high
degree of situational awareness, you set the stage for being pro-active, rather
than re-active. You can plan your cultivation activities so that when the
weather is right (or when the employees go home, or the crops are harvested),
you aren’t trying to decide what to do, you just do it. You don’t miss weeds
going to seed in your cover crop, or allow it to go past the optimal plow-down
stage. You can find recipes for the CSA box before you’re writing the
newsletter, and you can let wholesale accounts know that the broccoli will be
ready, rather than that it is ready, allowing buyers time to adjust inventory.
You can correct errors before they become chronic problems or flat-out crises.

A weekly review of what needs to be done and the overall
condition of the farm elevates you from putting out fires to watching for hot
spots, and puts you in the driver’s seat rather than just being along for the
ride.